Well as they say time flies when your having fun.. it didn't go as fast when I was waiting for delivery I am sure.

After a weeks PHEV'ing I can honestly say its meeting my expectations. I am not finding the charging process any strain or hassle at all, although I did think the other day whether my thoughts on this would be the same in the rain / snow? One thing I have noticed is that the cabin is just so quiet you tend to hear every rattle. My annoying rattle this morning was the rear seat belts. Not that a quiet cabin is a bad thing. It's great to start the day in such a peaceful environment.

Now on to the costs. Much has been made of the 148mpg figure. Whilst waiting for delivery every week like all I am sure on the waiting list I have been scouring the internet for the latest written and video reviews. Whilst some have been honest and practical others have simply been odd. Such as the review in Driving of a PHEV by someone who lived in London, had no car parking space and could not charge. Hence the reviewer clearly was not suited to a PHEV before they even started. It was doomed for a bad review. All in all it did make me think had I made the right decision based on my usage patterns etc.

So after a week of school runs, shopping trips to the local superstores, visits to parents, a DIY run and other Dad's taxi outings I have not used a single drop of petrol. That's right the engine has yet to start. Charging overnight has given me an EV range of between 35 and 39 miles and this more than covers the first school run. Although as a side note to this if you use the heater or A/C you instantly drop the range. I have found it's best to pre-heat the car in the morning using the APP from my iPhone. In deed when I wake up I have now got into the habit of logging into the car and turning the heater on. As it's still connected to the charger it draws the power from the wall rather than the car. It does however cost to heat the car. I think it adds about 20p to the normal overnight charge, which is quite a lot for 2 x 10 minute charges. The heater only runs for 10 minutes and then if you want it hotter you need to turn it on again. The kids love getting into a nice warm car in the morning. I think as the weather gets colder this is one feature that will be a big hit. I know others have complained about the APP but so far so good for me.

Given that I have used no petrol in a week what's it cost to charge? £10.98 according to the on board meter for a mileage of 248 miles. That equates to £0.044p per mile. Which to me is cheap, very cheap. Rewind two weeks and my Land Rover Defender 110 Utility was drinking diesel at a rate of 20mpg around town. So at £1.329 for a litre of diesel that used to equate to a cost of £6.04 for 20 Miles, that's £0.302 per Mile. 248 x £0.302 = £74.89. That's a saving of £63.91! Certainly my usage pattern will be pretty much the same for 38 weeks that the schools are open so I can instantly see an annual saving of £2,428.58 in diesel costs alone. That's not factoring in the other 14 weeks when the schools are closed either. On the weekly running cost analysis my decision to switch from the Defender to the PHEV so far has been justified.

So far so good.. and I'll finish with a reminder that after one week my running costs have only been £10.98!